Hydraulic fracturing (or hydrofracking) is a technique used for extracting fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas from reservoir rock formations by injecting highly-pressurized fluid into a rock layer from a wellbore. A hydraulic fracture is formed by pumping the fracturing fluid into the wellbore at a rate sufficient to increase pressure downhole to exceed that of the fracture gradient of the rock. When the rock starts cracking, the fracturing fluid continues farther into the rock, extending the crack still farther. A proppant material such as grains of sand, ceramic, or other particulates, is often introduced into the fracturing fluid, which prevents the fractures from closing when the injection is stopped. Research indicates that the extraction and recovery rates of fossil fuels from a hydrofracking zone relate to the location, size, and orientation of fractures in the rock formations. For example, fractures at certain locations or with certain orientations may provide a longer conductive path connecting a larger area of the reservoir to the wellbore, thereby increasing the area from which the fossil fuels can be recovered from the targeted formations.